Men’s Clothing Startup Combat Gent Raises $1.84 Million From Tony Hsieh’s VegasTechFund And Others

Men’s clothing retailer Combat Gent wants to be the place where young people turn when they need a new suit or dress shirt for work. To do so, it’s raised $1.84 million in seed funding from a group of investors that includes Tony Hsieh’s VegasTechFund, MHS Capital, Naxuri Capital, Blazer Ventures, Point Nine Capital, and Flint and Tinder’s Jake Bornstein.

More and more, customers are getting comfortable shopping for clothes online. Emboldened by better choice and lower prices, smart shoppers are finding high-quality alternatives to department store clothing from sites that specialize in certain fashions or labels. And then there are startups like Combat Gent, which are creating their own line of clothing options.

Combat Gent was founded with the idea of providing dudes entering their first jobs with a high-quality, low-cost alternative to clothes they would find in shopping malls or department stores. The company sources its own materials and production, and has designed its own line of basic, good-looking business attire.

It was able to do that because its co-founders have deep experience in men’s fashion and tailoring. Co-founders Vishaal and Mo Melwani are cousins who grew up surrounded by fashion, as their parents ran the Las Vegas and Los Angeles Versace boutiques. With that background, they felt confident that they could build a new line of fashionable men’s workwear at affordable prices.

Shirts start at $25, with suits costing $160. That is priced so that even customers just getting their start in the business world will be able to afford a good-looking outfit for work or formal occasions. Even better, the company has a 30-day return policy for all its clothing, with shipping free in both directions.

With the new funding, the Combat Gent founders hope to expand their offerings — including a series of high-quality Italian cotton shirts that will run $40. It’s also looking at potentially expanding internationally. Point Nine Capital is based in Berlin and signals the company’s interest in entering the European market.

Along with the funding news, the company announced that its founders had been named partners at FT Accelerator, a program devoted to helping startups focusing on fashion and technology. That follows their participation in the accelerator, and FT Accelerator’s Enrico Beltramini joining Combat Gent as chairman of the board.